MASKVASIK (Canada): Pope Francis has apologized for the Catholic Church’s cooperation in the atrocities perpetrated on Native Americans in residential schools in Canada. The pope said that the forcible absorption of the natives into the Christian community destroyed their culture, causing them to be separated from their families. He apologized at a former residential school in Edmonton, Alberta for all the atrocities that many Christians perpetrated on the natives. The Pope described the school’s policy as a “disastrous mistake” and said further investigations needed to be done and the wounds healed.
Pope Francis embarked on a historic visit to Canada on Sunday to apologize to the local community for the mistreatment of missionaries in residential schools. It is seen as an important step in the Catholic Church’s efforts to reconcile Native communities and help them recover from the trauma of the period.
The Canadian government has acknowledged that physical and sexual abuse was widespread in government-funded Christian schools that operated from the 19th century to the 1970s. About 150,000 Native children were taken away from their families and forced to move away from their homes, native languages , and cultures, and to settle in the Christian community of Canada.
Its goal was to increase the acceptance of the Christian community among the population and its assimilation into mainstream society, which the previous Canadian government considered supreme. The discovery of hundreds of possible graves in former schools drew international attention to schools in Canada and the United States. These revelations forced Francis to apologize on Canadian soil. Catholic religious institutions operated 66 of the country’s 139 residential schools. The emotions of those in attendance swelled after the Pope apologized. Many in the crowd were seen crying, while others silently listened to the Pope.
